Nightcrawler, Reactor 4 and a first look at Uranium 235
“Reactor 4” is the first single from Uranium 235, the album the Catalan producer is just about ready to unleash. The track, released on 17 September, arrives on all platforms with a video directed by Nightcrawler himself, serving as the way into the dystopian world the album will inhabit.
With “Reactor 4”, Nightcrawler stays on the course set by his recent work: highly danceable dark techno with an industrial finish and the cinematic touches he has accustomed us to. The whole process stays in-house: production, mixing and mastering at his NC Sound Studio, and the release issued on his own label, Nightcrawler Music.
A quick history lesson for anyone who missed the Chernobyl disaster. Reactor 4 was the one that exploded at the nuclear plant, and uranium-235 is the isotope that fuels fission. The album points towards a world of atomic catastrophe and whatever life is left after it.
From horror synthwave to industrial
Reactor 4 makes more sense against the arc of his career. Nightcrawler is a Spain-based producer who started out in 2011, drawing on horror and sci-fi film scores. His first EP, Bassferatu, came out in 2012, and it was Metropolis (2014) that put him on the international map of darker synthwave. Beware of the Humans (2017) and Visionary (2020) cemented that position.
The shift came with the EPs Perverse Frequencies (2022) and Dynamics of a Crash (2024), where dark electro, industrial and EBM began to push aside the more eighties-leaning synths.
Dark techno built for the dancefloor
Reactor 4 is, as far as I’m concerned, a track to wear out your trainers to. The production matches the best of what Nightcrawler has put out in recent releases, and the piece is built to work on a dancefloor. Anyone who followed Dynamics of a Crash will recognise the ground. The difference is that everything here sounds like part of something larger, with a clearly defined world from the opening minute.
As a single it’s a smart choice, leaving us expectant and keen to hear what the full album brings.
A video worth watching start to finish
The video is the other half of the release, and it deserves to be watched in full. Nightcrawler sets up a dystopia in which nuclear radiation is part of everyday life, and shoots it in the cinematic language that has become his trademark. Homages are always present in Nightcrawler’s work, and Reactor 4 is no exception. The Shining is woven into the clip’s look brilliantly.
What makes it worth watching without skipping is how closely music and image fit together. Each strengthens the other, and the track takes on another dimension with the pictures in front of you.
Reactor 4 is out now on Bandcamp
